The White House said Trump will bring along top US executives including his former nemesis Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook for a trip expected to focus heavily on the US president’s hopes to ramp up trade.
China said it hoped to achieve greater stability between the world’s two largest economies during the visit lasting Wednesday through Friday, the first by a US president since Trump went in 2017.
Asked if the United States should keep selling weapons to Taiwan, a key irritant for Beijing, Trump did not answer directly but said: “I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi.”
“President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion. That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about,” he said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump, after referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said of Taiwan, “I don’t think it’ll happen.”
“I think we’ll be fine. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don’t want that to happen,” he said.
But Trump also noted that the United States was “very, very far away” compared with China.
Congress backs Taiwan
The United States recognises only Beijing but under domestic law is required to provide weapons for the defence of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy which China considers its own.
Under the 1982 “Six Assurances,” a key foundation of US policy on Taiwan after the switch of recognition, the United States said it would not “consult” with Beijing about arms sales to the island.
Trump has long berated allies as not spending enough on their own defence. Days ahead of his trip to China, Taiwan’s parliament Friday approved a US$25 billion defence spending bill, although it fell short of the government’s proposal.
Pointing to the vote by parliament, a group of US senators led by Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the senate foreign relations committee, said that Trump should immediately green-light a US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan.
“We urge you and your team to make clear that America’s support for Taiwan is inviolable,” wrote the senators, mostly Democrats but including two centrists from Trump’s Republican Party.
While discussing economic concerns, Trump should also state that “American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation,” they wrote.